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Teaneck Creek Conservancy (TCC) is a  46 acre urban forested wetland located in Teaneck, NJ. The conservancy has created a natural masterpiece by blending the perfect mixture of artwork with nature. Artwork may appear around the corner on any of TCC’s nature trails such as this wooden turtle (carved from a Black Locust tree trunk) which may be found on the blue trail.

Artwork greets you as soon as you arrive in the parking lot of the Puffin Cultural Forum.

The park is bordered to the north by Fycke Lane, DeGraw Avenue to the south, Teaneck Road to the west and Teaneck Creek to the east.  The park is owned by Bergen County and managed by the Teaneck Creek Conservancy.

TCC was founded in 2001 by the Puffin Foundation after red survey flags were found on the woodland in back of the building at 20 Puffin Way in Teaneck, NJ.  After discovering that the property was owned by the County of Bergen, TCC signed a long term licensing agreement with the county to allow it to develop the property into a park. The conservancy applied and received $500,000 from NJ Green Acres, $450,000 from Bergen County Parks Department and Open Space Trust Fund, $50,000 from the Puffin Foundation and $300,000 from the NJ Wetlands Mitigation Council to form trails, site improvements and wetland hydrology analysis.  Teaneck Creek Conservancy became part of Bergen County’s Overpeck Park system in July of 2004 and opened up to the public on May 7, 2006.

The 1.5 mile Teaneck Creek, for which TCC is named, is a tributary of Overpeck Creek which in turn is a tributary of the Hackensack River.

There are two tributaries of Teaneck Creek found in the conservancy.

95% of Teaneck Creek’s watershed is urban which causes flash hydrology during storm events.  Flash hydrology consists of the rapid movement of water through Teaneck’s storm system into Teaneck Creek, followed by a rapid elevation of water height, accelerated water flows and then a rapid return to low flow water levels. Flash hydrology can destabilize the stream channel by erosion of the stream banks.

Despite Teaneck Creek’s poor water quality due to non-point source pollution, the creek and surrounding wetlands and woodlands host a large diversity of wildlife. Wildlife that have been observed at TCC include snapping turtles, mallards, killifish, green frogs, bullfrogs, eastern box turtle, great egret, blue heron, red fox and white-tail deer.

Wetland Restoration

The 46 acres which comprise Teaneck Creek Conservancy experienced degradation from dumping and filing of debris in the 1960’s during construction of the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 80.  The dumping of debris caused degradation in TCC’s wetlands by cutting off the historic hydrology to Teaneck Creek causing the wetlands to act more as a perched bog rather than a functioning riparian wetland.  A Conceptual Wetland Restoration Plan was developed for the preserve after three years of study by Rutgers University, United States Geologic Survey and TRC Omni.  The restoration plan essentially breaks the 46 acres into four sections (Section A, B, C & D).  Each section will have its own restoration plan based upon existing soil, vegetation and hydrology.

Section A consists of 9 acres and is located in the northeastern section of the preserve near Fycke Lane.  Section A consists of the highest quality forested wetlands remaining in Teaneck Creek Conservancy. Analysis of the soil indicates that the 9 acres have remained unchanged for the past two to three hundred years.  The goal for this area is to maintain the existing conditions and protect the 9 acres from future negative environmental impacts that may occur.

Section B, at 15 acres is located in the heart of the Teaneck Creek Conservancy. A prominent feature of   Section B is a body of water known as Dragonfly Pond whose water comes directly from storm water runoff from nearby Teaneck Road.

Dragonfly pond is surrounded by large stands of Common Reed.  The goal for Section B is to leave existing stands of Common Reed near the pond and prevent its spread by planting native shade trees.  Common Reed, though invasive, is useful in removing excess nutrients and sequestering contaminants from water.  In addition, given the source of water for Dragonfly Pond, the area is prone to drought conditions in the summer months.  Under drought conditions, obligate wetland plants such as Skunk Cabbage cannot survive.

While invasive plants such as Garlic Mustard and mile-a-minute vine are found throughout Teaneck Creek Conservancy’s 46  acres, they are especially plentiful in the 14 acre Section C and 8 acre section D.

Section C and D are located in the southeast and southwest section of the park respectively.  These areas of the park historically received the largest amount of disturbance during the construction of Route 80 and the NJ Turnpike.  The soil consists primarily of debris.  Only pockets of native vegetation remain in the 8 acre section D.  The restoration plan for section D indicates that 5-6 acres will be clear cut and reconfigured into a series of freshwater wetlands. 3 upland native wooden acres will be spared.  In Section C, a large clay berm was constructed in past wetland management efforts to help stem flooding from Teaneck Creek.   Restoration efforts call for the clay berm to be broken so that water will be able to flow and pool creating new freshwater wetland habitat naturally.

It is hoped that 20 new forested freshwater wetlands will be created from the Conceptual Wetland Restoration Plan for the Teaneck Creek Conservancy.

Trails

Teaneck Creek Conservancy features 3 trails. All trails are nearly flat. Blazes are created in the shape of a turtle and are colored and numbered. Trail maps are available near the entrance by the parking lot for the Puffin Cultural Forum. Click here for a map of Teaneck Creek Conservancy from Bergen County’s Overpeck County Park webpage.

The handicapped accessible red trail is .65 of a mile, the woodchip lined blue trail is .27 of a mile and the rustic green trail is .38 of a mile. The red trail traverses the preserve from DeGraw Avenue to Fycke Lane. Part of the red trail includes the historic public service trolley route which was in service from 1899-1938. The public service trolley route connected Paterson to Edgewater where a ferry took passengers to NYC.

The red trail includes many sites such as a big Silver Maple, two massive black willows, Dragonfly Pond, an outdoor ecology classroom and the Five Pipes. The five pipes were leftover massive drainage pipes that are large enough to stand in. Rather than discard them, volunteers painted the interiors and exteriors to represent five eras of time.

The exteriors of the five pipes represent natures flora and fauna found at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy across time.  The interiors of the five pipes represent the human relationship to TCC in 5 different historical eras. These eras include:

1.        Native American (The Lenape)

2.       Colonial Period (The Dutch and the English)

3.       A new nation’s early years (1776-1899)

4.       USA: The 20^th Century

5.       USA: The 21^st Century and Beyond

The outdoor ecology classroom is located near the highest quality forested wetlands remaining in TCC (Section A near Fycke Lane). Formerly, the location of the classroom was surrounded by large dense stands of Common Reed. After most of the Common Reed was removed, native trees, shrubs and herbaceous species were planted. The outdoor ecology classroom was built after receiving funding of $100,000 from private and public sources in 2003.  The classroom has four 12-foot long benches, a boardwalk and a 30 foot –wide  five-sided opening in the middle that looks down into wetlands.

Accessible from the red trail, The Green trail traverses near the eastern section through a Cottonwood forest.

This trail is the only trail in the park system that was designed and built by volunteers. The red and blue trail were designed and built by contractors. In addition to views of Teaneck Creek, the Green trail features the Lenape Turtle Peace Labyrinth made from rubble found in Teaneck Creek Conservancy.

The labyrinth is shaped in the form of a giant turtle. The Lenape Native Americans believed that the world began when a giant turtle swam to the surface of an ocean that covered the earth and the turtle’s back supported the continent.  Hikers are encouraged to follow the rubblestone to the center of the labyrinth. A sign posted at the entrance states  “A walk to the labyrinth’s center can provide an opportunity to meditate, heal and grow”. The green trail then follows Teaneck Creek until the intersection with the red trail at the Five Pipes.  The red trail can then be followed either north to the Outdoor Classroom or south to the intersection with the blue trail.

The blue trail, located in the northwestern section of TCC, goes through a dense area of wetlands and reeds. It is the location of one of the first temporary art exhibits I saw at Teaneck Creek Conservancy: Windows on the Park.  Old window frames were taken and hung up alongside the blue trail to challenge the separation between public and private spaces.

Soon after leaving this area, the blue trail heads back to the red trail where the hike began.

Flora

TCC includes over 140 native species of plants. These include:

• Red Maple
• Silver Maple
• Green Ash
• Virginia Creeper
• Pokeweed
• Skunk Cabbage
• Jewelweed
• Eastern Cottonwood

Click here to check out the official website of Teaneck Creek Conservancy. Click here for directions to this unique urban wetland.

References:

http://www.teaneckcreek.org/

http://cues.rutgers.edu/teaneckcreek/index.html

http://cues.rutgers.edu/teaneckcreek/pdfs/01-atmospheric-2006-report.pdf

http://urbanhabitats.org/v05n01/history_full.html

http://urbanhabitats.org/v05n01/hydrology_full.html

http://urbanhabitats.org/v05n01/restore_full.html

http://urbanhabitats.org/v05n01/wetland_full.html

http://urbanhabitats.org/v05n01/vegetation_full.html

http://www.nynjtc.org/hike/teaneck-creek-conservancy

Feel free to e-mail NJUrbanForest at NJUrbanForest@gmail.com with any comments, memories or suggestion! Thank you and have fun exploring!